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My First True H6


mikey.shake

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Mrs. Shake found a Craigslist post and tipped me off. She said she’d seen it listed for about a week, and finally contacted the guy. She even drove us out there yesterday evening. She knew by the photo it was a Heavy Sixer, and she knew I’d been wanting a Tele-Games console of some kind for my collection. I dig that swirly woodgrain, and we’ve already got a Tele-Games game storage center in our living room to match. (They look fantastic together.)

I’ve already got what I call a “Half Sixer” -- a H6 top and guts with an L6 bottom put on during an early-‘80s refurb. It plays and looks great. But it’s not quite the same as THIS.
IMG_2324.jpg
Mrs. S didn’t realize that the CX-10s in the listing photo, assuming they worked, were the icing on the cake. It was (to us, in our market) a really good deal. And it was a great sort of situation, too -- literally a middle-aged guy selling stuff from his mom’s house in the ‘burbs, most likely his own console from back in the day. No sleazy resellers, no eBay-style price gouging, no junk-shop nonsense. Which meant this hadn’t been rotting in a landfill for decades, and was pretty clean.
It all smelled overwhelmingly of mothballs and had a serious case of “dust crust”, but I gave it a bath in the kitchen sink and that helped a lot. I tried to be very careful not to get let any of that hot, soapy water splash down in the cracks and mess up the electronics, either. [Just kidding -- I disassembled the whole thing and left the guts on my desk, and even put plastic/tape over the serial sticker.] Once it was clean, it looked great. Switch cleaner in the switches, compressed air on the board. And I took internal shots for all you fine folks, ‘cause I know how much some of you love innards.
It was initially giving me some fairly staticky picture, but I swapped the (stock?) RF cord for a “known” good one out of a Vader, and the static dissipated (see Question #1, below). I need to adjust the color a little, but it’s most certainly a keeper.
One of the CX-10s works perfectly, one doesn’t even register, which I hope I’ll be able to diagnose easier than a “partially working” one. I figure it might just be a loose connection or something -- both controller ports on the console are fully functional according to the test cart.
And while I prefer a nice and TIGHT joystick (like a new-out-of-the-box CX-40), this CX-10 is like a revelation. I’d never played on one before, and it’s just so SMOOTH! No hex discs, but no big deal. I still need to clean the paddles to see how they play, too.
Two questions:
1) Why is it that the “nice” RF-style cables I’ve purchased or acquired ($10-$12 at modern electronic stores) almost always give inferior, staticky signal compared to the old ones I’ve “borrowed" from other VCS consoles?
2) What would you experts say a haul like this should be priced at these days (summer 2015)? Again, I’m very happy with what I paid, but four-year-old posts saying “Pfft, I’d never pay more than $XX for ____.” don’t really tell one much of anything as far as “current market price". That was then, this is now, right? I’m not planning on selling, or even parting with it, but I’d love to be able to thank my wife by letting her know just what a good deal she sniffed out.
I’m stoked. My first “true” H6. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Berzerk and Pac-Man 8K to play.
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Sears "Heavy Sixer"
Model - Cartridge Telegames System Video Arcade (Sears)
Serial - 88378T
Sticker Type - White, single
Mfg - Sunnyvale, CA
QC Date - 1172.S / "99 33700008 . #"
Casing Date Hotstamp - (None)
Motherboard Rev. - Rev 6 (CO10433)
Switchboard Rev - Rev 5 (CO10462)
Other Markings - (see left joystick port sticker)
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IMG_2327.jpg
IMG_2333.jpg
IMG_2330.jpg
IMG_2328.jpg
IMG_2334.jpg
IMG_2335.jpg

 

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I'd estimate value maybe $50-$75 for console with two working joysticks, and maybe a couple of games. I'm sure you could get more, but would have to work for it. Might find one for less, but not easily.

 

That's about what I was thinking. Though I'm certainly not planning on selling any of it.

 

I got the second of the CX-10s working (DeOxit under the switch contacts, adjusting the springs a little bit), so now it's got two working (and awesome) joysticks, and the cleaned-out deck runs flawlessly.

 

The paddles are my next target, to see if I can get them back up to snuff (and I'm thinking with the condition of the rest of this, that's pretty likely).

 

We dropped $50 on the whole package, which we were happy with in our area. Thanks for the nice comments, folks! I'm pretty geeked.

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Very good deal on it! I paid $50 for mine as well. Got it last Summer out in the wild at a place called Movie Trading Company. In excellent condition, works, and plays flawlessly. Yours is pristine! I like to play my H6 on special occasions and keep it in great shape. They go for insane prices in ebay. I've seen $200 for systems without controllers, game lot, and original box not included. They should be around $60 for a bare system on average.post-32978-0-00833600-1434761487_thumb.jpg

Edited by Retrogamer81081
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I got the same sears h6. Bought with no accessories for 9.99 on ebay. Mines in nice shape as well. That was 2004 2005ish.

I can get a gemini with controllers and 15 games for 70 bucks is that a deal?

That is a great deal for a Gemini. They are gping for higher prices on ebay nowadays. Just be warned. Geminis are made from off the shelf parts and a lot of the parts especially the controller ports and the power port to plug the AC adapter to gets brittle over time and needs to be re-soldered.

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